Human rights in retreat

Is there not a worse situation today than during the Emergency? There was no colonization of the country by the foreign powers, with agriculture, industry, education, defense, health and trade being at their mercy. There was no communalization of the country's private and public life on the present scale with the communal parties and their militant armed outfits and volunteers attacking the life, liberty, dignity and property of the religious minorities. There was no unbridled play of capitalist forces, with public undertakings and public assets being handed over to them for a song on a platter. The unemployment is rising by leaps and bounds, the inequalities are widening, the corruption and criminalisation of public life has increased many fold, the communalization of the institutions of both the political and civil society including education, is going apace, and the terrorization of the dissenting voices through even physical attacks is taking place with impunity. But where is the unity among the forces opposed to these evils today? Where is the leadership to lead them? That brings home the unique importance of J.P. and his movement.